Normal is Overrated
by WannaBeNinja
Summary: Saya is slightly paranoid, completely bipolar, & rather adorable. Her mother is trying to get in his pants, & he still has to chase after Hollows. Ichigo was only trying to live a normal life, but then he realized normal is overrated. Oneshot IchigoXOC


**Disclaimer **- I don't own any of the guys and girls from Bleach. However Saya is all mine to bend and mold!

Well, well, well, I'm not _always _a ball of one-shots...  
But I'm on a little bit of a roll...  
Though it will probably go _stale _soon.  
Roll - Stale ... Get it? HA!  
(Get use to my corny jokes people - it comes with the package!)

* * *

It was never going to be normal again. It was never going to be that easy going life he had before all of this shinigami nonsense started. He wondered if he'd ever be able to go on vacation, if he'd ever have a remotely normal day ever again. Kurosaki Ichigo was, at the moment, laying in his bed-in his room-in his tiny new apartment. It wasn't far from his fathers place, and it wasn't far from his school. He didn't really need to move out, but with school and having to pop out every now and then to kill some unnamed Hollow. He thought, 'why not?' Sighing he rolled over and willed himself to sleep. Groaning as he heard the annoying beeping of his Hollow detector go off. Quickly popping out of his body, he went on to do his _job_. 'To save the normal people of the world…' he thought sarcastically as he leaped from the window.

**:**

Arai Saya shifted the brown paper bags from one arm to the other as she strolled down the street. She grumbled unhappily as a younger boy ran past her, knocking the bags from her hands and sending her groceries falling to the pavement. "Thankfully I didn't get eggs this time…" She mumbled squatting down and began to pick up the food. 'Stupid brat didn't even stop to say sorry…'

"Kids can be reckless." She looked over to the voice, noticing an orange haired guy before her. He smiled a half smile as he handed her an orange and started to help her clean up the fruit carnage. After they'd finished he scooped up the two bags before she could, "you from around here? I'll help ya."

Saya looked shocked by the males offer. Her suspicious mind went into overdrive. 'Why would he want to help? What did he think he'd get out of it? Will he think I owe him some kind of favor?'

As if seeing the look of disbelief and the confusion on her eyes he chuckled. "Just thought I'd give you a hand, no harm in doing a kind gesture right?" The woman bit her lip and nodded.

"It's just down the block actually." Blushing a bit, suddenly ashamed of her suspicions of the kind man. "Thanks…" She muttered as she began to walk and he fell into step beside her.

**:**

Ichigo stared in shock at the familiar building he was being led into. He stayed silent as he walked up the same amount of stairs, and wanted to laugh when he walked down the same hallway. "You're going to think this is too suspicious to be a coincidence but I'd like to introduce myself…" Saya stopped from unlocking her apartment door and turned to the man. "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, your new neighbor."

Saya's eyes widened as she looked towards the door of the apartment next to hers. "No…no way…" He chuckled uneasily. "Really?" He nodded and she leaned back against the door. "Well, I suppose it's believable that I just so _happen _to run into you on the street and you just so _happen _to decided to be part of the 1 of people that would actually offer to help carry my bags." He couldn't quite tell if she was being sarcastic or not, but she smiled and turned to open the door any way.

She walked into the apartment and turned to face him. "Arai Saya, and I think I can take carrying the bags from here. You have my thanks for the help." She held out her hands and waited. Ichigo sighed but nodded slowly handing the bags over. She nodded her head lightly before basically slamming the door in his face.

"Right…" He kicked the air lightly before turning and putting his hands into his jacket pockets. "Smooth, Ichigo, _real _smooth…"

**:**

It wasn't long before the two bumped into each other again. It wasn't very hard for them to do so, living next door to each other, and attending the same school. Saya glared slightly at the nervous man before her. 'Is he a stalker…' She wondered briefly before sighing.

"Sorry…" He muttered at he leaned down to help pick up her books that he'd accidentally knock out of her hand.

Saya shook her head and told him to think nothing of it. When they stood back up a girl she had known from one of her classes came up to talk to the boy. Saya took that chance to think things over. 'He really isn't trying to _get _anything out of me…' She wondered if he was just like this to everyone? Was he always so nice for no apparent reason? Saya resisted the urge to out right laugh at the thought, if it was all true then he must have been a total idiot.

"Sorry, Arai-san." Her attention was brought back to reality when Ichigo smiled regretfully at her. "I have to go, Orihime promised to help me with some things…"

Saya looked back to the girl she had noticed earlier, and was slightly confused. Why was he saying sorry? It wasn't like they were hanging out or something. He had knocked her books over, then helped her pick them up. Hell, they weren't even having a conversation. "Ah…it's fine. Good luck with whatever it may be." She stated with a odd look on her face. The orange haired man nodded and took off.

Saya scratched the back of her head watching the two jog off. 'He's rather weird…' She thought before shrugging and leaving the campus.

**:**

Sighing heavily Saya stepped out of her apartment and quietly pulled the door closed behind her. Once she heard the _click,_ informing her that it had be fully closed, she leaned against it sliding down the flat hard wood. Taking another heavy sigh she pulled her legs to her chest, let her hands fall limply to the ground, and _thumped _her head onto her knees. She was going insane.

Ichigo whistled lightly as he climbed the stairs of his apartment building. As he approached his floor he stopped at the sight before him. He tilted his head as he continued his trek. Quietly he stood before the girl and grinned at the odd display. He heard a sigh come from the unmoving being. Crouching down in front of her he tapped the top of her covered head.

Saya would have jumped ten feet into the air, had it not been for the odd way she was sitting. "What the…" She looked up to meet the laughing eyes of her neighbor. "What are you doing here?" She asked rather ignorantly.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow before stating the obvious. "You're in the hall way." The girl seemed to realize where she was and turned almost three shades of red. "Are you okay?" Ichigo asked innocently placing his hand onto her forehead. "You're red and you feel a bit warm…"

Sayas eyes followed his hand and stared at it as he laid it on her forehead. "I…I'm fine!" She nearly yelled as she hit his hand away and stood. "I just needed some quiet." She mumbled looking down in an extremely shy manner.

A little taken back from the sudden outburst and movement, Ichigo had to catch himself from falling onto his ass. Standing slowly he brushed off any dust from his pant legs. 'Quiet…in the hallway…' he thought, 'isn't it quiet in her apartment?'

As if on queue her apartment door opened, and a _very_ attractive, _very_ scantily dressed, older woman opened the door. "Saya-chan…" The woman froze for a moment before smirking at the handsome lad before her eyes. "Oh, and who is this…" She not so gently pushed her way past the pouting Saya and leaned up to get a good look at Ichigos face. As she deemed him handsome enough she batted her eyelashes over pretty blue eyes. "Well, hello honey." She lightly ran her hand down his arm, and was delighted to feel the lean muscle under it. "Would you like to join us for dinner?" It seemed the woman wasn't taking no for an answer, because she took the boys hand and began to drag him into the apartment.

Ichigo was pulled along with a slightly shocked, completely desperate look at Saya. The younger woman only mouthed a sorry as he was dragged away. Blushing, half embarrassed/half pissed off, Saya reluctantly went back into the room and closed the door behind her. 'This is going to be a disaster.'

**:**

Ichigo laughed nervously as Miyo, as he learned her name to be, giggled and leaned in closer to him. He side glanced at Saya but was unsettled to see the look of complete uninterested on her face.

Finally glancing up and catching his silent call for help, only then did she sigh and speak up. "Mother, I don't think he can eat with you basically in his lap like that…"

Miyo pouted very childishly at her daughter before scooting back into her own seat. "I'm just trying to get to know him." She playfully winked in the boys direction. "Why didn't you tell me you had such handsome neighbors, Saya-chan?" Ichigo watched the sparks of anger flash over the girls face, yet her own mother seemed to not notice. "Honestly, if you'd just get a nice handsome man to look after you, you wouldn't have to worry about anything." Saya gripped the glass in her hand and Ichigo sent the poor inanimate object a pitiful look. "I can see why you are having troubles finding someone if you go around dressed like _that_…" Suddenly the glass shattered in Saya's hand. Which the younger girl didn't even seem to notice as she went about glaring holes into the table.

Miyo rolled her eyes as Ichigo quickly stood to inspect Sayas hand. "Arai-san, are you alright?" He quickly looked at the damage and was relieved to only see a few small cuts on her palm. After a quick inspection he found, to his relief, no glass in the cuts. "We should clean this. Do you have any antibacterial?"

As if in a completely dazed state, Saya looked at the two slightly bigger hands that gently cupped her own. Her eyebrows frowned as she followed the hands up sleeveless arms, which were attached to clothed shoulders, that were on either side of a round head. She tried to snatch her hand away when she saw the concerned look on his face. An emotion she was not use to be directed at her.

He held on tightly, yet gently, to keep her hand in his own. He watched as the dots of blood began to swell, he grabbed a napkin from the table and dabbed it gently. Miyo sighed obnoxiously from the other end of the table. Ichigo only ignored the older woman in favor of continuing his duty at the moment. Which was to clean the cut. "I have some things to clean and wrap this with in my apartment." He thought for a moment and came to an amazing conclusion. He tugged lightly on the hand in his own. He'd give Saya a few moments of peace away from her mother. He pulled Saya up out of her chair, out of her apartment, and into his own.

Miyo went to protest but the two were gone before she could even raise from her seat. Saya stared dumbfounded at the boy as he pulled her along. She complied like a doll, letting him sit her on his bed. Then she watched him retreat into the bathroom attached to said room. Only to return seconds later with a small first aid looking kit. Without so much as a word he took her hand and began to clean it.

When the medicine hit her sliced skin she hissed and pulled her hand away. Holding the now burning appendage to her chest she pouted and glared angrily at him. The male couldn't help but chuckle and smile at how utterly adorable she looked. "Sorry, I should have mentioned it might sting a little…"

She hmphed before glaring harder. "A little. Are you a masochist?" She asked in all seriousness. That was more than a little sting, it burned like hell.

The orange haired man playfully rolled his eyes before grabbing her hand. "Don't be a baby." He muttered as he held her hand firmly, yet tenderly, and finished. Saya pouted and hissed a few more times before he wrapped her hand and patted her head. "There all set." He collected the trash and the kit, turned and went to put it away.

Saya stared down at the white bandage wrapped firmly around her hand. 'He's still weird…' She thought but a small smile came to her face, 'but maybe not _that _weird.'

As he exited the bathroom again he stopped and grinned. 'She has a cute smile.' He thought before entering the room completely. 'But I doubt she'd believe me if I told her that.'

Saya looked up at him and they stayed like that for a few moments. She opened her mouth to speak, she supposed she should thank him. Tell him she owed him one, and offer to cook him dinner again sometime. Hopefully without her overly flirtatious and over baring mother around. She had finally got up the nerve to do just that when a loud beeping filled the room.

Just like that their _moment_ was broken. Ichigo cursed under his breath as he reached over the bed next to her to grab the mobile device on the other end. Cursing again he bit his lip trying to think of what to say. '_Hey, I have to go kill this Hollow thing. Oh what's a hollow, well it's a horrible monster that eats souls and tries to kill people. Oh by the way I'm a shinigami, can I call you later? _Yeah, perfect, genius.'

Saya looked back down at her hand and sighed. "You have something to do, don't you?" She hoped she didn't sound as dejected as she felt. Yet, if she saw Ichigos face at that moment, she would have known she was a horrible actress. She stood, keeping her eyes locked with the floor. "Thank you for…_this_" She held up her hand. "And sorry for the trouble my mother caused." She whispered as she turned to leave his apartment.

Ichigo panicked. He didn't want her leave. At least not with that horrible cloud of gloom surrounding her. Reaching out he gently grabbed her upper arm. When her head spun around and looked at him in surprise he resisted the urge to blush and stutter. "I'd like to see you again…" He blurted out and then froze as her face first looked even more shocked and then turned a pretty shade of pink. He finally let go of her arm and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean if that's okay?"

Saya blushed further when she saw the rather cute gesture. "I'd like that." She said softly before realizing what she said. "I mean…" She looked up to see a slightly smirking face. "I mean to repay for everything I put you through tonight and for helping me with my hand and all."

Ichigo seemed to smirk more as she rambled. He couldn't help but find it extremely adorable, and he had urges to kiss those rambling lips. But he didn't think she'd agree to see him again if he did such an act. Finally realizing she was still rambling he held his finger up to her lips to silence her. Then he blushed at the action but smiled sheepishly. "How about this Friday? I'll take you out to diner or something?"

Trying to control the blush that now engulfed her entire face she nodded silently. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips when he finally moved his fingers away. Saya was completely unaware of the thoughts the action had cause. Ichigo was two steps away from giving into his desire to taste those lips, to battle with that tongue, when his mobile device began beeping loudly again. Sighing he took two cautious steps backwards, he was going to get himself into trouble being that close to her.

"Well, I better get back before she comes looking for us." Ichigo cringed at the thought and Saya couldn't help but laugh. Ichigo grinned goofily at the cheerful sound that fell from her lips. "I'll see you Friday." She smiled softly and turned to leave.

"Yeah…" He whispered happily and was in a slight daze until he heard his front door click shut. 'Shit!' He thought as he quickly turned into his shinigami form and leaped out of the window. Even if he was annoyed that he had to leave Saya, just when things started to look promising, he couldn't help but smile. He could deal with all this outrageous Hollow, shinigami, Soul Society bullshit - if he could keep Saya…if he could protect his odd relationship with her.

'Hell, what's so great about _normal _anyway…'

* * *

**Well, that's it for now...**_**  
Can I get some peanut-butter with that Fluff?  
**_**Hope someone enjoyed that...  
- WannaBeNinja -**


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